As people across the Midwest and Northeast were urged to stay indoors amid freezing cold temperatures this week, hundreds of blood drives were canceled, leading the American Red Cross to experience what it said was an emergency need for blood.

A polar vortex brought record cold to Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and other Midwestern states with temperatures dropping to 50 degrees Fahrenheit with wind chill in some areas leading to schools being closed and communities rushing to provide help to homeless people .

About 450 Red Cross blood drives were canceled across 30 states this month, largely due to winter weather, the nonprofit said. An estimated 14,000 blood donations were not gathered as a result with this week alone accounting for 75 percent of the uncollected donations.

Whats more, the federal governments partial shutdown also affected donations in recent weeks, as about 30 blood drives hosted by federal offices were canceled during the shutdown, leaving more than 900 donations uncollected.

The need for blood doesnt stop for winter weather, American Red Cross spokesperson Jessa Merrill said in a press release, urging people unaffected by this winter weather to donate blood. This months historic cold and snowy weather has caused blood drives from the Midwest to the East Coast to be cancelled and thousands of blood donations have gone uncollected.